Frank Wesson’s breech-loading single shot two trigger rifle earned itself a good reputation in the rigors of the Civil War and was made and sold in the tens of thousands.
Fast Facts
- Frank Wesson was a brother of Daniel Wesson and was a rifle designer and manufacturer in his own right.
- Frank Wesson’s most well known firearm was his two trigger breech-loading rifle.
- This rifle was well respected and earned itself a good reputation for accuracy and reliability during the Civil War.
- One of these Two Trigger rifles is for sale by Rock Island Auction at time of publication.
Frank Wesson was one of three Wesson brothers; the other two being Edwin, and the famous Daniel Wesson of Smith & Wesson.
Frank was a firearms designer and maker in his own right but his designs are far less famous – even to the point of being rather obscure.
In the lead up to, and during the beginnings of the Civil War there was a demand for rifles that could more effectively be managed by cavalry. Muzzle-loading rifles were able to be managed by infantry, but being on horseback posed its own set of difficulties. Pouring gunpowder down a rifle barrel, fitting a paper patched bullet, ramming down the bullet ensuring there was no air left under it, and then fitting a little fiddly percussion cap using gloved hands was a difficult process: and doing it under fire as a cavalryman would need to do raised a set of demands that were not conducive to efficient combat.
So it was that as breech-loading carbines that used self-contained ammunition began to be invented and made it was the cavalry who’s interest these carbines attracted: and Frank Wesson’s diminutive carbine was one that attracted the interest of State Governments as it entered production in 1859.
Frank Wesson’s design was for a rifle with both civilian and military application. It was chambered for .22″, .32″, .38″, and .44″ rimfire cartridges, with the military Civil War version being offered in .44 Long Rimfire.
Later on the rifle was also offered chambered for centerfire cartridges and some versions were made with a switchable hammer to enable the use of either rimfire or centerfire cartridges.
Frank Wesson’s two trigger rifle was a simple break-action rifle with a single locking under lug. The most forward trigger unlocked the rifle allowing the barrel to drop down exposing the breech ready for loading. The rear trigger fired the rifle.
Production of these rifles was in Worcester, Massachusetts and Frank Wesson made progressive improvements over the course of production from 1859-1888.
The first versions of this rifle were made without an extractor, presumably on the assumption that the shooter’s fingernails would be strong enough to extract the fired case. The design kept the action very simple but was cause of a deal of “wailing and gnashing of the teeth” for users and those evaluating the rifle.
Frank Wesson improved his design to incorporate an extractor and users of his rifle were no doubt grateful that they no longer needed to sacrifice their fingernails.
Another improvement was the fitting of a limiting stop to prevent the rifle from opening too far. This took the form of a simple slotted link in the action which engaged with a button mounted on the barrel: so the action was only able to open just enough to clear the breech for easy extraction and reloading.
Frank Wesson’s single-shot breech-loading rifle was purchased by quite a number of state governments including those of Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, and Ohio.
Frank Wesson offered his twin trigger single-shot rifle with barrel lengths of 24″ weighing approximately 6lb, 28″ weighing approximately 7lb, and 30″ weighing about 8lb.
By 1866, after the end of the Civil War, Frank Wesson had made about 20,000 of these rifles, with 8,000 of these being sold to the military.
The Wesson rifles proved themselves to be accurate in shooting competition. They were fitted with simple but effective open sights with a fixed 100 yard rear sight with a folding sight graduated for 250 yards at the lower part of the blade and 500 yards at the top of the blade.
Front sight was a blade.
The Wesson rifle was well regarded and they were used at the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863 and the Battle of Westport in 1864.
In the wake of the Lawrence Massacre by the Confederate guerilla band led by William Quantrill the survivors chose to arm themselves with Wesson rifles in the hope they would be able to cause Quantrill’s Raiders a significant degree of discomfort should they return for a second attempt.
One of these Wesson rifles of the 5th type is for sale by Rock Island Auction at time of publication.
The condition of this rifle is described as follows:-
“Very good as refinished with most of the blue finish, brown patina on the balance, and absent lower tang screws. The stock fair as repaired with brass panels along with chips, dings, and scratches. Mechanically functions.”
You will find the sale page for this rifle if you click here.
The sale rifle is chambered for the .38″ cartridge and is fitted with a 25⅝ inch octagon barrel.
Picture Credits: All pictures of the sale rifle courtesy Rock Island Auction. Other pictures as individually credited.
Jon Branch is the founder and senior editor of Revivaler and has written a significant number of articles for various publications including official Buying Guides for eBay, classic car articles for Hagerty, magazine articles for both the Australian Shooters Journal and the Australian Shooter, and he’s a long time contributor to Silodrome.
Jon has done radio, television, magazine and newspaper interviews on various issues, and has traveled extensively, having lived in Britain, Australia, China and Hong Kong. His travels have taken him to Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan and a number of other countries. He has studied the Japanese sword arts and has a long history of involvement in the shooting sports, which has included authoring submissions to government on various firearms related issues and assisting in the design and establishment of shooting ranges.
